Head Tilt, will he survive?

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TacoBunny

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So not only after checkups, going into stasis and a tooth operation, my bun Taco now seems to have head tilt. I knew immediately this morning that he wasn't right. His head is turning to one side and his eyes are scanning left to right. I really thought it was a stroke but after rushing to the vets she has said the possibility is either an inner ear infection or bacteria. She mentioned he has some redness in his ear and his eyes are scanning left to right which is apparently more in line with an inner ear infection...

I guess what I wanted to know is if anyone has been through this, if their rabbits made it ...if their bun still has a tilt to their head. Did they find getting them to eat difficult?

I want to remain positive but i'm worried, he's been through a lot already. But he is young and strong so i'm trying to hope for the best.

I just want him to be well again :(
 
Yes, my rabbit Cali had an inner ear infection last year. She looked like a Parkinson's patient, head moving sideways and eyes too. I heard a bang in the night and the next day she had these symptoms so I thought she had a head injury. But the vet said the infection actually caused the fall because she couldn't balance. She promptly put her on oral antibiotics (apple flavoured baytril twice a day for 2 weeks) and an ear drop antibiotic too (baytril as well twice a day for 10 days). The symptoms improved quite quickly BUT she would not really eat probably due to nausea and dizziness. We had to force feed her critical care. Also the vet said keep her on one level (no ramps or stairs) and pad the cage so she can't hurt herself. The vet also cleaned some gunk out of her ears twice. Long story short, it was sad and scary but she recovered 100%.
 
That's good to hear that she recovered. Did her head remain tilted?

It sounds like a long involved recovery process which thankfully I can administer since I work from home. But my major concern is the not eating in between...i suspect we will have to force feed critical care too. :(
 
Nope her head did not stay tilted. She is totally fine. But it's good you will be around to care for him. Sometimes Cali would eat leafy greens and herbs but not enough and she didn't want her hay so we had to feed her at least 2-3 times a day. We had to force feed the meds too. Bunnies don't generally like baytril. This was honestly a two person job.
 
Yeah that's the thing, he doesn't want to eat hay and that's the main thing they need really to keep everything going. Not looking forward to the night....every morning will be nerve-wracking. Gah why are they so fragile?
 
Head tilt is also known as vestibular disease. It can either be peripheral vestibular or central vestibular. Peripheral has a much better chance of recovery. With central, the prognosis is poor to guarded.

Fortunately, the peripheral vestibular is more common than central vestibular.

Here is an article from the House Rabbit Society about it:
http://www.rabbit.org/health/tilt.html

Some rabbits recover from head tilt but their head remains somewhat tilted. These rabbits still seem to live a normal happy life.
 
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Thank you for the link. I'm really hoping it's peripheral. As long as the infection goes I don't care how wonky he ends up as long as he can have a good life.
 
So he's eating a tinyyyy bit of brocollli today and carrot (and lots of force fed recovery paste). And just drank a lot of water with some help of a syringe. Think i've got a long way to go but I'm hoping this is a good thing. No poops yet though :S
 
I would maybe try things like cilantro and parsley instead. Broccoli is gassy and carrots too sweet for his delicate tummy right now. Carrot tops would be good too. Does he like anything else?
 
Sorry for the pause, it's been a long few days of being up nights force feeding but he's gradually getting better, there's big improvements each day! Had a couple of scary days where he wasn't eating but after getting his guts going at the vets he's now eating on his own and really just wants hay and tiny bits of basil and pellets again (which is a relief). His head is getting less tilted and he's having exploring sessions round the room which is improving his balance and getting his guts moving even more. I can see more of his personality coming through and it's really promising.

Just hope he doesn't deteriorate from here on. :)
 

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